Browse content similar to 13/07/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to Midlands Today. They headlines tonight: unemployment | :00:10. | :00:13. | |
figures for the region are down, but it is tougher than ever for | :00:13. | :00:20. | |
women to get jobs. I am used to going to work, talking to friends. | :00:20. | :00:25. | |
Joy for some, despair for others as county schools find out which will | :00:25. | :00:30. | |
close and which had been spared. The pain and human cost of life on | :00:30. | :00:34. | |
the front line in Afghanistan. will not get a chance to go back to | :00:34. | :00:38. | |
the UK for the funeral, so saying goodbye at the service was | :00:38. | :00:46. | |
important. And tribute to a living legend - the finishing touches to a | :00:46. | :00:51. | |
statue of the man who transformed the fortunes of Coventry City | :00:51. | :00:58. | |
Football Club. Good evening and welcome to | :00:58. | :01:01. | |
Wednesday's Midlands Today from the BBC. Tonight, good and bad news on | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
the jobs front. Unemployment has fallen faster here than anywhere | :01:05. | :01:09. | |
else in the country. The number of people out of work between March | :01:09. | :01:16. | |
and May stood at 226,000 - a drop of 32,000. But the figures also | :01:16. | :01:19. | |
show that men are finding it easier to get new jobs, with 94,000 women | :01:19. | :01:24. | |
still unemployed. In Coventry that's an increasing problem, with | :01:24. | :01:29. | |
women making up 78% of public sector workers. So what is being | :01:29. | :01:38. | |
done to help women who are out of work? | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
There are around 35,000 people in Coventry claiming unemployment | :01:43. | :01:49. | |
benefits and a growing number of them are women. This woman, a human | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
rights lawyer was made redundant last year after funding was cut for | :01:54. | :02:00. | |
a project that aims, ironically, to get women back into work. The it | :02:00. | :02:05. | |
has been nine months. I have been applying for jobs every day. I get | :02:06. | :02:15. | |
no response, up or do to a high number of applications -- or due to | :02:15. | :02:25. | |
a high number of applications, I am just not considered. This charity | :02:25. | :02:34. | |
has seen an increasing number of women coming to them. I knew the | :02:34. | :02:37. | |
recession was going to make things difficult, but I did not realise | :02:37. | :02:41. | |
almost a year on I would still be looking for work. It is quite bad | :02:41. | :02:46. | |
out there. Jane Niven work for years and the banking industry and | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
sees this as an opportunity to leave the restrictive corporate | :02:49. | :02:56. | |
world. Every day, answering to somebody else, being kicked when | :02:56. | :03:04. | |
you do not do something right. I want something different. Sandra | :03:04. | :03:10. | |
Garlick, an employment lawyer, has urged the Chamber of Commerce to | :03:10. | :03:14. | |
set up a forum aimed at women. She believes there are distinct | :03:14. | :03:19. | |
differences between the genders when it comes to unemployment. | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
Women treat losing their jobs different leaf. They are more | :03:23. | :03:26. | |
adaptable to change, probably because they have had to juggle | :03:26. | :03:31. | |
careers with a work-life balance. They tend to look at the fact that | :03:32. | :03:35. | |
they are losing their job as an opportunity to do something | :03:35. | :03:41. | |
different. Coventry has a reputation for literally and | :03:41. | :03:44. | |
metaphorically we building itself over the decades. All the women I | :03:44. | :03:48. | |
have spoken to today said if someone cannot help them, they are | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
more than prepared to help themselves and get them out of this | :03:53. | :04:02. | |
employment crisis. En Westminster Coventry North West | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
MP Geoffrey Robinson secured a special debate on the issues facing | :04:06. | :04:12. | |
women in the City, focusing on pay and jobs. Coventry is a suitable | :04:12. | :04:18. | |
place to use as a further test case for the examination of the impact | :04:18. | :04:24. | |
of unemployment on women. In Coventry, the pay gap between men | :04:24. | :04:31. | |
and women is 10 points higher than the national average. Later in the | :04:31. | :04:36. | |
programme we will be switching from the female workers of today to the | :04:36. | :04:41. | |
female workers of tomorrow at the Academy desperately seeking female | :04:41. | :04:47. | |
engineers for the future. False calls in Shropshire had been | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
recommended for closure as part of a plan to reorganise education in | :04:51. | :04:55. | |
the county. But three other schools under threat had been reprieved. | :04:55. | :05:01. | |
Shropshire has nearly 3,000 fewer pupils than went to school in the | :05:01. | :05:07. | |
county six years ago and that means �10 million less in government | :05:07. | :05:11. | |
funding. Ben Godfrey is at one of the schools set to close. What has | :05:11. | :05:16. | |
been the reaction? At this call, along with eight | :05:16. | :05:21. | |
others, children and staff had been waiting to find out when they will | :05:21. | :05:27. | |
close. Head teachers have told me the uncertainty has led some | :05:27. | :05:34. | |
parents to pour their children out, just in case. Today, some clarity | :05:34. | :05:39. | |
from the council. This school has been at the heart | :05:39. | :05:44. | |
of the community for 80 years. There are only 41 children, but | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
they all love it. A everyone knows each other and it is like a family. | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
I like coming here and meeting my friends. If I went to a different | :05:53. | :05:59. | |
school I would not be able to see them. This school will close in | :05:59. | :06:05. | |
20th September 12, along with three others. No-one has been able to | :06:05. | :06:15. | |
:06:15. | :06:16. | ||
show us how children will gain. A lot of the money will go in | :06:16. | :06:22. | |
transporting them to this course. Shropshire council say it falling | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
LINK People numbers and a cut in funding has left it with no | :06:26. | :06:33. | |
alternative. But a day three is the magic number. Three primaries found | :06:33. | :06:40. | |
that they are not going to close. They have a future as a federation. | :06:40. | :06:46. | |
What it does is allow possibilities between the schools. So if you have | :06:46. | :06:52. | |
a couple of small schools, it could be on one day one of the schools | :06:52. | :06:55. | |
literally transport some of their classes of children to another | :06:55. | :07:00. | |
venue and they are taught jointly. Then maybe people watching this, | :07:00. | :07:05. | |
screaming at the television and saying, closing at a local school | :07:05. | :07:10. | |
rips the heart out of the community. How do you respond to that? There | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
is no alternative. We are having to close schools and we will work hard | :07:14. | :07:21. | |
with them and parents to ensure children get the best deal. | :07:21. | :07:24. | |
picking up their children, parents at this school were disappointed. | :07:25. | :07:30. | |
It will be of huge detriment to the village. My son has come on leaps | :07:30. | :07:35. | |
and bounds since he has been here. But all is not last. There is one | :07:35. | :07:41. | |
other option - academy status. application has gone in for academy | :07:41. | :07:46. | |
status. That has gone to one committee and it is now with | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
ministers, who will make the decision. By the end of turned the | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
school is hopeful it will know for sure whether this Bell will keep on | :07:55. | :08:01. | |
bringing. So academy status is a possibility here. Other local | :08:01. | :08:06. | |
schools are considering free school status to cut ties with local | :08:06. | :08:14. | |
authorities. They have to take action soon because come 2012, all | :08:14. | :08:19. | |
these buildings behind the could be vacant. | :08:19. | :08:25. | |
British forces have been fighting in Afghanistan for almost a decade | :08:25. | :08:28. | |
with 300 serviceman and women paying the ultimate sacrifice. At | :08:28. | :08:37. | |
the moment there are 9,500 service men and women fighting the Taliban, | :08:37. | :08:43. | |
including many from other region. Louise Brierley is at Camp Bastion | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
with the Mercian Regiment. This is Camp Bastion, the main | :08:48. | :08:55. | |
place for troops. 20,000 people live here. It is here that I met | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
soldiers from the Mercian Regiment just before they were about to | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
board a plane to go home for three weeks. Tragically, one of them | :09:04. | :09:09. | |
would not be joining them. Private Gareth Bellingham was shot dead by | :09:09. | :09:16. | |
the Taliban was on patrol. I am gentamicin a lot. He was a good | :09:16. | :09:23. | |
friend to me. We used to love to have a drink together. He used to | :09:23. | :09:29. | |
come round to my house when we were on leave. I am going to miss him. | :09:29. | :09:33. | |
For these men, they know the risks only too well, but after losing a | :09:33. | :09:43. | |
:09:43. | :09:45. | ||
friend, suddenly the reality of war comes crashing home. We were just | :09:45. | :09:53. | |
gobsmacked. The regiment padre is the Christian minister of the | :09:54. | :10:00. | |
Mercians. He led a service for Private Gareth Bellingham. In helps | :10:00. | :10:04. | |
the grieving process, which is important for everyone out here. | :10:04. | :10:09. | |
They will not get a chance to go to the funeral, so it is important to | :10:09. | :10:17. | |
say goodbye at the service. British personnel have died since | :10:17. | :10:23. | |
the war started in Afghanistan. 32 from out of region. This is where | :10:23. | :10:27. | |
serviceman and women from Afghanistan pay their respects. It | :10:27. | :10:31. | |
is the ultimate tribute for those who have sacrificed their lives for | :10:31. | :10:35. | |
their country. But for now, these men and women have to put death | :10:35. | :10:42. | |
behind them and get on with the job. And there will be more from Louise | :10:42. | :10:45. | |
tomorrow on the BBC WM Breakfast Show, and she will be reporting | :10:45. | :10:50. | |
from the frontline again on Midlands Today tomorrow night. | :10:50. | :10:56. | |
Brockhill Prison in Redditch is to close. The government's announced | :10:56. | :11:00. | |
it will shut in September as part of plans to save money. It's one of | :11:00. | :11:03. | |
three sites that make up Hewell Prison and holds 170 inmates, who | :11:03. | :11:13. | |
:11:13. | :11:19. | ||
will be sent to other jails. Now, meet the little boy who was | :11:19. | :11:22. | |
born the wrong way round, quite literally. Kian Hill had all his | :11:22. | :11:25. | |
major organs on the opposite side and was missing a lung, his spleen | :11:25. | :11:28. | |
and an appendix. He's spent almost his entire life on wards at | :11:28. | :11:30. | |
Birmingham's Childrens' Hospital, but he's now made such a recovery, | :11:31. | :11:34. | |
he's being allowed home tonight for the first time. He has endured | :11:34. | :11:43. | |
operations and medical procedures on almost a daily basis. To date | :11:43. | :11:47. | |
there there is cause for celebration. It is a big day for | :11:47. | :11:51. | |
charred macro and his mum because having spent his entire life in a | :11:51. | :11:54. | |
hospital bed like this one, tonight he would get to sleep in his own | :11:54. | :12:04. | |
:12:04. | :12:06. | ||
bed. It will be emotional. I am happy for him. At last, home to | :12:06. | :12:11. | |
Sheldon. It is amazing to think we can have him here and start to live | :12:11. | :12:18. | |
a normal family life. It has been a long journey. Last year doctors | :12:18. | :12:26. | |
gave charred macro a 50 % chance of survival. He suffered two cardiac | :12:26. | :12:32. | |
arrests and was clinically dead for 30 minutes. They said it bit happy | :12:32. | :12:37. | |
-- they said if it happened again, there was a slim chance of him | :12:37. | :12:44. | |
pulling through again. Lunch is and will be for some time in liquid | :12:44. | :12:47. | |
form and given through a tube, and there is a cocktail of drugs to be | :12:47. | :12:56. | |
administered. Hopefully he will grow up to be a normal toddler, a | :12:56. | :13:03. | |
teenager, but no-one knows how that will pan out. They don't know | :13:03. | :13:07. | |
whether he will always be Osidge in dependent on his ventilator in the | :13:08. | :13:13. | |
evening. Next week, charred macro should be able to come home for | :13:13. | :13:23. | |
:13:23. | :13:25. | ||
good. Just in time for his birthday. Welcome home to Kian. Still to come | :13:26. | :13:30. | |
- a legend cast in bronze. A fitting tribute to Coventry's Jimmy | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
Hill. And we get a taste of summer tomorrow, but could it turned sour | :13:35. | :13:42. | |
by the weekend. -- weekend? Find out later. | :13:42. | :13:46. | |
Earlier, we reported on the lack of jobs for women. Well for some time | :13:46. | :13:49. | |
now manufacturers have complained about a skills shortage and lack of | :13:49. | :13:51. | |
engineers. And the problem's especially acute when it comes to | :13:51. | :13:54. | |
encouraging girls to choose a career in engineering. As the JCB | :13:54. | :13:57. | |
Academy nears the end of its first year, our Staffordshire reporter | :13:57. | :14:00. | |
Liz Copper has been to see how a new programme could unearth the | :14:00. | :14:10. | |
:14:10. | :14:14. | ||
great female engineers of tomorrow. We need to make it as early as | :14:14. | :14:22. | |
possible. Refusing to conform to expectations, the challenge of | :14:22. | :14:27. | |
these 11 year olds is to build a crane. They have come to the JCB | :14:27. | :14:32. | |
academy to get a taste of what engineering is about. Why did they | :14:32. | :14:37. | |
think that girls are put off? in it is a boy's's job because you | :14:37. | :14:47. | |
:14:47. | :14:55. | ||
get dirty and it is mechanical. Boys's. This is the end of the | :14:55. | :15:05. | |
:15:05. | :15:13. | ||
Academy's first year and boys outnumber girls 9-1. Girls have got | :15:13. | :15:22. | |
great skills and they need to be utilised. Laura Atkins's | :15:22. | :15:27. | |
aspirations have taken her into leadership. Engineering and | :15:27. | :15:30. | |
struggles with a skills gap. We do not have enough engineers in this | :15:30. | :15:37. | |
country, but we have a lot of women who are good at maths at school. | :15:37. | :15:43. | |
Back at the Crane making, have any of the girls been persuaded that a | :15:43. | :15:48. | |
career in engineering could be for them? Yes, I would like to be an | :15:48. | :15:53. | |
engineer. A I might. Now that we have experienced it, it seems like | :15:53. | :15:59. | |
fun. Yes, I'd definitely be an engineer. As they test their | :15:59. | :16:03. | |
creations the hope is these girls will not be held down by the burden | :16:04. | :16:13. | |
:16:14. | :16:15. | ||
of stereotypes and will consider a career in science. | :16:15. | :16:20. | |
Most of them looked enthusiastic. Results from one of the UK's | :16:20. | :16:23. | |
biggest trials of electric cars have been announced. It took place | :16:23. | :16:26. | |
here and involved 50 cars. Although there was much scepticism over | :16:26. | :16:27. | |
whether they could replace conventional vehicles, results | :16:27. | :16:32. | |
appear to show that for the majority of journeys they can. Our | :16:32. | :16:35. | |
Transport Correspondent Peter Plisner joins us now. I am a bit | :16:35. | :16:45. | |
sceptical myself, Peter. Are we all going to go electric? | :16:45. | :16:49. | |
These cars will not be ideal for everyone, especially if you are | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
making a long journey. But a lot of people make short ones and this | :16:54. | :16:59. | |
trial was designed to see how easy it would be to go electric. They | :16:59. | :17:09. | |
:17:09. | :17:14. | ||
are small and are becoming a regular sight. A small number of | :17:14. | :17:21. | |
people were asked to give up their petrol fuelled cars and go electric. | :17:21. | :17:26. | |
The trial also saw the installation of more charging points. Birmingham | :17:26. | :17:34. | |
and Coventry now has a network of more than 30 of them. The Midlands | :17:35. | :17:40. | |
is becoming a centre of excellence for electric cars. The Indian | :17:40. | :17:50. | |
company Tata has recently set up a new company -- new factory to | :17:50. | :17:57. | |
produce their car Tata EV. We are told that 77 % of journeys were | :17:57. | :18:01. | |
less than 20 minutes in duration, which is perfect length for | :18:01. | :18:08. | |
electric cars. In the survey most of the cars were parked four Oct 23 | :18:08. | :18:18. | |
:18:18. | :18:24. | ||
hours a day and the cost was under �1. I have someone with me he took | :18:24. | :18:29. | |
part in the trial. It was great. You need to plan your journey | :18:29. | :18:35. | |
carefully so you do not run out of electricity. With me also it is | :18:35. | :18:45. | |
:18:45. | :18:49. | ||
Neil Bodger from the CABLED project. These cars can do 70 miles per hour. | :18:49. | :18:59. | |
They go 100 miles between charges. Well electric cars catch on? They | :18:59. | :19:06. | |
are more expensive to buy, but they are cheap to run. Vehicle Leasing | :19:06. | :19:14. | |
will come into play in the future, so they can balance of the purchase | :19:14. | :19:18. | |
price with the running costs. you want more information about the | :19:18. | :19:28. | |
results of this trial, there is more information on a website. -- | :19:28. | :19:38. | |
:19:38. | :19:50. | ||
on our website. A small Midlands charity is selling | :19:50. | :20:00. | |
:20:00. | :20:01. | ||
or water back to us to help the situation in Ethiopia. | :20:01. | :20:07. | |
This 25-year-old finance train they get stuck into his latest project - | :20:07. | :20:17. | |
:20:17. | :20:21. | ||
Walter -- bottled water it. -- aid. A percentage of the profits will go | :20:21. | :20:28. | |
to funding water suppliers in Ethiopia. You can also find out | :20:28. | :20:33. | |
exactly who you helped. In this case, a farmer who has to travel | :20:33. | :20:39. | |
for an away up to get clean water. By personalising the bottled water, | :20:39. | :20:44. | |
we hope people will feel more attached to the people they are | :20:44. | :20:54. | |
:20:54. | :20:55. | ||
helping. Each bottle sold provides one Ethiopian with clean water for | :20:55. | :21:03. | |
a year. And the return to his old school to make a pitch to their | :21:03. | :21:08. | |
fund-raising committee. -- Andy. think it is a great idea. You can | :21:08. | :21:17. | |
find out exactly who you helped. People can help others instead of | :21:18. | :21:23. | |
buying the water at they normally buy. It is a hit here and as for | :21:23. | :21:33. | |
:21:33. | :21:35. | ||
the reception in Ethiopia, they are grateful. | :21:35. | :21:37. | |
In football, delight for Wolves, but disappointment for Birmingham | :21:37. | :21:40. | |
City. Central defender Roger Johnson says he has moved to | :21:40. | :21:43. | |
Molineux from St Andrew's to keep alive his Premier League career. He | :21:43. | :21:45. | |
has signed a four-year contract after completing the �6 million | :21:45. | :21:48. | |
deal this morning. Wolves boss Mick McCarthy says he has been waiting | :21:48. | :21:58. | |
:21:58. | :22:00. | ||
two years to get his man. For me it was all about getting back to the | :22:00. | :22:07. | |
Premier League. Relegation was heartbreaking, but I had to do what | :22:07. | :22:17. | |
:22:17. | :22:17. | ||
I needed to do. He plays in the same position that manager Mike | :22:17. | :22:27. | |
:22:27. | :22:29. | ||
McCarthy played. -- Mick McCarthy. He is terrific, a good defender. He | :22:29. | :22:35. | |
is vocal on the pitch as a leader. That is what I wanted and that is | :22:35. | :22:42. | |
what I have got. Before interviews with Roger Johnson and Mick | :22:42. | :22:48. | |
McCarthy up on Our Facebook page. Stoke City have Sir Stanley | :22:48. | :22:51. | |
Matthews, Wolves have Stan Cullis and Billy Wright and very soon | :22:51. | :22:54. | |
Coventry City will have Jimmy Hill. We're talking about statues. In a | :22:54. | :22:56. | |
couple of weeks time the former Sky Blues manager will officially | :22:56. | :23:00. | |
unveil his own bronze outside the Ricoh Arena, and Ian Winter has had | :23:00. | :23:10. | |
:23:10. | :23:11. | ||
exclusive access to Jimmy's statue. Fire up the furnace, turn up the | :23:11. | :23:16. | |
heat and prepared to pour the molten metal. Deep inside the | :23:16. | :23:22. | |
Bronze Foundry in London, her Majesty keeps an eye on it football | :23:22. | :23:29. | |
legend. But before Jimmy Hill was transferred to bronze, he was | :23:29. | :23:34. | |
enshrined in a clay. Nicholas Dimbleby talks with his hands and | :23:34. | :23:38. | |
because Jimmy is an old friend of the family, this commission has | :23:38. | :23:43. | |
been a labour of love. On the stone plinth his name will be carved and | :23:43. | :23:48. | |
at the base there will be a seat said that the statute he's a | :23:48. | :23:58. | |
:23:58. | :24:01. | ||
meeting place as well as a tribute -- said that the statue is a | :24:01. | :24:11. | |
:24:11. | :24:11. | ||
tribute as well as a meeting-place. Under Jimmy Hill of the Sky Blues | :24:11. | :24:16. | |
was transformed. He got the fans singing and smiling and that is why | :24:16. | :24:23. | |
so many chipped in to pay for the statue. Joe Elliott ran the | :24:23. | :24:30. | |
campaign to raise �100,000 of the statue. We talking to see how it | :24:30. | :24:36. | |
was taking shape. What will Jimmy make of it? He will be delighted. | :24:36. | :24:44. | |
I've been there will be at Tear in his eye. He loves Coventry. -- | :24:44. | :24:50. | |
Bates here in his eye. I am sure he will be over the moon. | :24:50. | :24:58. | |
challenge was to make an iconic image and to make it personal to me. | :24:58. | :25:06. | |
What about Jimmy's Ching? It is not as big as you might think. -- | :25:06. | :25:12. | |
Jimmy's chin. I am not a great football fan. I will leave that to | :25:12. | :25:17. | |
the critics. Jimmy Hill will be 82 next week, so don't expect him to | :25:17. | :25:23. | |
be sprinting across the pitch. He will be content to unveil his | :25:23. | :25:28. | |
statue, welcoming the next generation of Sky Blues fans to his | :25:28. | :25:38. | |
:25:38. | :25:41. | ||
beloved football club. -- sky-blue. A remarkable man. And now for the | :25:41. | :25:49. | |
weather. We are going through this transitory phase will we get a | :25:49. | :25:53. | |
slice up summer and then it is displaced by eight what you would | :25:53. | :26:03. | |
:26:03. | :26:18. | ||
not want. At least is the - that Tonight, a good deal of cloud. It | :26:18. | :26:28. | |
:26:28. | :26:28. | ||
will be fairly warm. Temperatures down to 9-12 Celsius. Tomorrow, | :26:28. | :26:38. | |
:26:38. | :26:41. | ||
fairly dry, apart from the odd fleeting shower were. On balance it | :26:41. | :26:50. | |
will be quite sunny. -- fleeting showers. We have a light north- | :26:50. | :26:56. | |
westerly breeze. Friday, things start to turn. It will be cloudier | :26:56. | :27:01. | |
and rain will arrive from the mid- afternoon onwards. It will be light, | :27:01. | :27:07. | |
but over the weekend we will have prolonged periods of rain. The | :27:07. | :27:15. | |
winds will increase. Temperatures will take and knock back by a | :27:15. | :27:21. | |
couple of degrees. Before we leave, a look at the main | :27:21. | :27:25. | |
headlines: Rupert Murdoch has withdrawn the News Corporation | :27:25. | :27:29. | |
bitter takeover BSkyB. And in the Midlands unemployment is down and | :27:30. | :27:33. |